Dysfunction over Dreamers delays disaster dollars

California's largest and most destructive wildfire has spread beyond Ventura County and forced evacuations in some coastal parts of Santa Barbara County, to the northwest. The fire has burnt at least 270 square miles. (Dec. 11)
AP

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), left, chats with Senate Minority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) during a Congressional Gold Medal presentation ceremony October 25, 2017 at the U.S. Capitol Visitor Center in Washington, DC. The medal is to honor Filipino veterans of World War II for their service and sacrifice during the war.(Photo: Alex Wong, Getty Images)

WASHINGTON — Legislation to provide billions in federal aid to help Western states recover from wildfires and Gulf states and U.S. territories rebuild from hurricanes is stalled while the partisan fight over the fate of nearly 700,000 Dreamers rages on.

That means it could be months before ranchers in California, citrus farmers in Florida and families without power in Puerto Rico get the help they've been desperately seeking.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's office is blaming Democrats for preventing progress on a disaster assistance bill. Democrats say Republicans, who control both houses of Congress, have the power to advance a disaster aid bill if they really want one and should be willing to negotiate one with Democrats.

The GOP-controlled House passed a $81 billion measure in December but the Senate never took it up after Democratic Minority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York said they want more say on key legislation after the Republican-controlled Congress passed a tax bill without Democrats' input.

"Democrats want to make sure that we have equal bargaining, and we are not going to allow things like disaster relief go forward without discussing some of the other issues we care about," Schumer said in a Dec. 21 speech on the Senate floor.

Some of those issues include a spending bill to prevent a partial government shutdown, funding for health programs that are about to expire, the federal flood insurance program and, most notably, the looming end of a program that protects from deportation about 700,000 immigrants who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children.

The partisan debate over the future of the program, known as the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) grew more acrimonious last week after President Trump reportedly called Haiti, El Salvador, and other African nations “shithole countries” and suggested the U.S. should instead encourage more immigration from Norway, a predominately white country.

Although Republicans hold a 51-49 margin in the Senate, filibuster rules give Democrats some leverage because 60 votes are needed to pass most bills.

The stalemate is angering Rep. Tom Rooney, a Florida Republican whose district includes a large sweep of orange groves ravaged by Hurricane Irma in September.

He's concerned citrus farmers who don't get help will leave an industry that provides most of the nation's orange juice. The House bill includes $2.6 billion for agriculture aid, much of which could be used to extend a hand to citrus growers.

“It appears the Democrats have held up all legislative activity in the Senate including help for our citrus growers for the sake of DACA," he said Thursday. "The only way I can read this is that DACA is more important than hurricane relief and everything else. Meanwhile people in Florida Puerto Rico and Texas continue to suffer."

Democrats were not satisfied with the House bill even though its $81 billion price tag was nearly twice the amount the White House requested in November.

Democrats want the bill to include more assistance for California, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico (where more than a third of the island remains without electricity. And they want cost-sharing waivers for Puerto Rico and additional funding for Medicaid, drinking water infrastructure and projects that would protect the territory from another powerful hurricane.

Despite his earlier threat to use disaster aid as leverage on other issues, Schumer last week said he was "confident" Congress could come together quickly on a bill.